January Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees – Add Your Comments

They put on events, they readily share geocaching tricks and tips and they challenge new and seasoned geocachers with their hides. They are the January Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees.

December 2012 Featured Geocacher of the Month, Moneydork

Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as the Featured Geocacher of the Month for January.

Write a comment at the bottom of this blog about which of these geocachers you feel should be awarded the Featured Geocacher of the Month title.

In December, Wayne, a.k.a. Moneydork was recognized for establishing himself as one of Australasian’s most prolific geocachers. His efforts to support the community as a Geocaching volunteer reviewer and good Samaritan have not gone unnoticed. He even managed to organize New Zealand’s very first Mega-Event from 3500 km (2175 miles) away. According to fellow geocachers, Moneydork’s hides and events are legendary Down Under and he never hesitates to give his all to the sport.

Here are your nominees for the January Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.

Mr Bluesky writes, “On November 29th, Don, [a.k.a. Kirret] will have found a geocache every single day of the year, since November 2011. He has done this in three different countries and on two continents. This year alone he has found over 1,700 geocaches, including a grand haul of 100 on March the 27th. Don worked in Scotland in 2010 and 2011 and I got to meet him through geocaching. We immediately became firm friends. I had the pleasure of geocaching with him in Canada in July 2012 and then again on August 18th in Scotland. Don is very enthusiastic about geocaching and has, just by meeting people while out geocaching, gotten many involved in this hobby by informing them of what he was doing and how enjoyable it is. He mostly geocaches with his wife and son and is one of Guildford, England’s most prolific geocachers. He is out in all weather conditions with a smile on his face and a GPS in hand. I think his achievements this year is a remarkable feat.”

ttcm4geo writes, “If you visit Prescott, Arizona as we were one weekend, you will note something curious. Many of the geocaches you visit will have a note stating that ‘while you are in Prescott, you must find a geocache called Raven’s Labyrynth.’ So many geocacher said this that we finally decided to pursue it. The geocache itself is amazing, which I am sure took weeks to construct. Then we found out that the geocache owner has many similarly thought-out geocaches in the area. In fact, Prescott is known as ‘Ravenland.’ But, even more amazing is that if you email Dan, a.k.a. The Raven with a question, he promptly replies and tells you to call him. So we called him and got some assistance. He was very nice, and you can tell that his only goal is to help people enjoy geocaching. His geocaches are creative, well thought out and so much fun. He does all this work for people many of whom he will never meet. Therefore, I think he deserves this recognition.”

SuperGoober writes, “Tim, a.k.a. The Weasel is what geocaching is all about. He gives back so much more than he takes. He hosted the very first CITO in the Midwest: EIGA 2004 CEDAR RAPIDS CITO EVENT. He is an active member and Board Director for the Iowa Geocacher Organization and a volunteer for the Linn County Conservation. Tim has conducted and assisted in over 50 geocaching 101, 201 and 301 classes and workshops throughout the State of Iowa and abroad. His knowledge of the wilderness extends well beyond that of an average geocacher. He uses his extensive knowledge of the outdoors to help other geocachers by placing some very creative and educational geocaches. The Weasel has an impeccable sense as to what geocaching is all about. He realizes that cache maintenance is very necessary to ensure that geocaching is fun and that the geocache is there. He is just unstoppable.”

Comment below to tell us who you think should be the January Featured Geocacher of the Month. A panel of Lackeys will use your comments to help decide which geocacher is awarded the honor. Each featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat, a Geocacher of the Month profile icon and a certificate acknowledging their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. We will be accepting comments for January’s award through Sunday, January 20th.

Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. If you know an outstanding geocacher you would like to nominate to be a featured Geocacher of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com and include the following information:

Your name, the name of your nominee, their username

A picture of the nominee

Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month

Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award.

Nominations for the February Geocacher of the Month must be received by Friday, February 8th.

Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.

Share with your Friends:

I am the Land and Facility Steward at the Indian Creek Nature Center. I have had the privilege of working with Tim on several occasions. Tim has worked with the Nature Center with placing some education outdoor lesson type Geocaches, as well as conducting classes about Geocaching. Tim has worked with us in placing his Geocaches as to not disturb some fragile areas. Tim has shown us the benefits of Geocaching and look forward to working with him again in the future.

Jean Wiedenheft
Indian Creek Nature Center

http://www.facebook.com/amanda.b.duncan.5 Amanda Bryson Duncan

My vote is for ‘the Raven’! This past summer one of my trackables ended up in the one of the Raven’s caches, “The Raven’s Labyrinth” and after reading about the cache I knew I had to make the trip to Prescott, Az from New Mexico. Over the next couple of months I also looked at some of his other caches and then started reading some of the logs posted from other cachers. Their logs show just how much effort Dan puts into his caches not only while putting the caches together but also keeping them in great condition and also helping people find the caches if they need help. he puts so much time and energy into the game of geocaching Prescott is truely lucky to have him in their community. My husband and I were lucky enough to be able to finally plan a trip in December and have it work out so that we could attend an event that was held for Dan. He was such a nice man and truely helpful while we were out running around enjoying “Ravenland” and needed a little help on one of his caches! There are so many reasons why ‘The Raven’ should win not only geocacher of the month but geocacher of the Year!!
Amanda
“T&AD”

BJ

It’s simple vote Weasel

Laura

Not troubles finding the Weasel vote

Daniel-Smaniel

I vote for “The Weasel”!!!
I’ve had the privilege and the fun to find some Caches with
The Weasel!
He IS a really a fun person and LOVE Caching with him!
He doesn’t like to RUSH into finding a Cache.
He takes his time and makes the best out of everything he does.

IowaHills

I vote The Weasel

Rick

I vote Weasel too

Calidon

Raven. We have enjoyed getting our friends and family involved in our raven geo caching excursions. He is clever and his caches are fun for our whole family.

http://www.facebook.com/thomas.jenkins.1612 Thomas Jenkins

So, everyone is talking about the Raven’s caches, I would like to talk about the Raven himself. The Raven has been my best and closest friend since 1987, meeting the Raven and forming a friendship with him, has been and continues to be a HUGE blessing in my life. The Raven is closer to me than my own natural brothers, his since of humor, his whit, his love for life, his honesty and straight forwardness along with his genuine and caring heart, continues to make him a great friend and motivator to me and my life! My brotha the Raven really makes me look good, friends just don’t come any better!! We’re homey’s/best friends forever!! ps. Remember I always got your back – KFC look out! Love ya buddy!

Christina gabaldon

Raven he is amazing!

Kevin

RAVEN! There is not enough room on this page to give credit to the raven!

Gabe gabaldon

Raven his caches are phenomenal!

Maria

Raven by far the man!

Tyler calia

The raven gets my vote!

sensor723

Not sure when the deadline is to vote but I wanted to cast my vote for the weasel.

I e-mailed him about a cache that I was making.

Had some problems with it.

After a little while he e-mailed me back and provided the information that I needed to get this Cache publsished.

My Vote: The Weaesl!

swr rat

OK I thought I had posted my nomination for the January Cacher of the month. Guess not :(. I vote for Tim AKA The weasel.

I haven’t done any of his caches, but have met him several times at different Events around the state he is a pleasant person to visit with and his caches are highly regarded fun caches. He also puts forth a lot in the way of 101 and above seminars.

shore2lake

I like the fact that The Weasel has placed a great number of Caches that appeal to all of us one way or the other.
They range from high-tech, educational, physical, puzzles and taking us to great places that we would not have known about.
I think that The Weasel is a perfect example of what a geocacher strives to be like.

Good luck The Weasel

CornCity

The Weasel has the best caches and everyone loves them in Iowa I hope to
make the visit soon put my vote in for The Weasel, Best of luck from
Omaha Nebraska

Bud

Add my vote for the Weasel

Cache_Dog

I was told the voting time about up so I wanted to put a good word in for the Weasel

http://www.facebook.com/Dan.The.Raven Daniel Hunt

Hi everyone!

I had a something prepared last week that I was going to post when Sunday finally came around. However, as time progressed, it became clear to me that my whole thought process began to shift… in a good way.

Geocaching is my beloved hobby that has brought so much joy and great friendships into my life. Geocaching seems to almost create instant friendships. This is what happened when I began to chat via email with Tim and Don. They became instant friends. It is unavoidable. They both are some of the nicest guys I have had the pleasure to chat with. They both are a great testament to geocaching, and I am honored to be nominated with them.

Something else happened as well. What I thought was going to be a simple and friendly voting session began to turn into a major competition of sorts. It almost felt like a college football rivalry between three great teams. It turned into a “who is better than who” competition.

Continued below…

http://www.facebook.com/Dan.The.Raven Daniel Hunt

Groundspeak doesn’t really see the behind the scenes that occur outside of Latitude 47. Local Facebook groups, Yahoo groups, emails, phone calls, and other multimedia outlets began to take an obvious shift for their own nominees. Those great nominees that Groundspeak had selected became the competition. An attitude of “Who’s Better” quickly formed. Competition seems to breed attributes that are sometimes not always healthy. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good sports game where there are a good rivalries between teams. But this is Geocaching.

Geocaching to me involves honor and respect for the other person no matter what race, religion, or philosophy they have that might be different than our own. Geocaching seems to transcend those differences and bring a community together that might not otherwise have found themselves friends outside of Geocaching. It is this type of camaraderie that I value.

I teach multiple geocaching classes throughout the year, and one of the many things I always try to instill in newcomers is that this game is not a competition. It’s about making new friendships and becoming one big geocaching family. Outside of this selection process, we all here in Arizona (and I’m sure in Iowa and the UK) try hard to support one another and strive not to say “which cacher is better than the other or more deserving”. Sure there is so many more positive things that geocaching brings into everyone’s lives, but this is a big one for me.

Continued below…

http://www.facebook.com/Dan.The.Raven Daniel Hunt

With that said, the battle for me and the other nominees became a job of sorts trying hard to keep the focus on the fact that each nominee was more than deserving of this honor. No one was better than the other. However, the voting exploded, and I felt an even great sense that our geocaching family splitting into 3 different groups.

As I chatted with Tim, we both felt that casting votes for multiple winners would begin to unite our geocaching families in Iowa, Arizona, and the UK together. It is who we are. We are one big geocaching family. How do I expect to tell fellow Arizonians that I am better that Don or Tim. I’m not… and visa-versa.

Out of 5 million geocachers this month, three were selected for the month of January. I am definitely not forcing or proposing an ultimatum here to Groundspeak. Not at all. I am simply hoping that all three nominees could be showcased. All three are winners. All three are Geocachers of the Month. 3 people, 3 friends, 3 cachers representing the values that Geocaching brings to all of us. Finding unique caches with great friends in awesome locations.

Thanks for reading my friends. I am humbled and honored by all your comments. Thank you. I am also pleased that I’ve become friends with Tim and Don. I wish them all the best this year. Happy Hunting everyone! — The Raven, Prescott, Arizona… I mean… Ravenland, Arizona… hehe…

IowaPatriot

I vote Weasel

http://www.facebook.com/lisa.flockhart.3 Lisa Flockhart

Add another vote for the Iowan…the Weasel.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Stewart/1282627882 Tim Stewart

I have to agree 100% with my friend Dan (Raven) here!! He hit the nail on the head and describes what we spoke about at great legnths.

In addition to e-mails and texts, I actually got to talk to Dan on the phone. What an honor that was!

We all 3 nominees have become great friens over the past 2 weeks, which I think makes us all winners. It is amazing how this has brought 3 totally different caching areas together as one!

I will keep this short and sweet. It has been a total honor to be nominated at the same time with these 2 other OUTSTANDING geocachers…errr, scratch that, human beings! I truely hope that at some point in my life, I am able to run into these 2 guys and shake their hands.

To Dan and Don, I TRUELY am glad to have been able to talk and get to know each of you and be on this adventure. Until we meet on the trail sometime, stay safe, and happy caching my friends!!!

Happy Caching!
Tim (The Weasel)

http://www.facebook.com/Dan.The.Raven Daniel Hunt

Thank you Kasi for your poignant comment… Cheers and Happy Hunting!

SuperGoober

I am tired.
This rigorous voting has taken it’s toll on me!

My Regards go out to The Weasel, The Raven & Kirret!
I hold ALL of you in the Best Regards!
SuperGoober
It will be interesting to see how Groundspeak handles this one!

jmhx2

The Raven gets my vote.

dave campbell

The Weasel is a very giving person!
I attended one of his workshops last year and he took the time to set up my GPS and computer to make Geocaching more enjoyable for me and my family.Since then I have found nearly 1,000 Caches.
Thank You Tim, you are a fantastic steward of Geocaching. I probably wouldn’t be Geocaching if it wasn’t for you.

I hope that you WIN this!

Flappjack99

The RAVEN gets my vote! I have had the honor to go after a few of the Raven’s caches and they are top notch. Dan has taken this hobby to the next level and I can say that his caches are always a treat. I am always amazed and and have no idea what I am in for when going for one of his caches.

I can’t put it any other way than “The Raven Rocks”. Keep it up Dan and Thank you, Greg (Flappjack99)

momof34

So glad that I can still vote!
The Weasel has broke me of many fear that I have.
He has placed some pretty challenging Caches.
I think it awesome that Tim will come and assist me with a challenging Cache!
Seems that his #1 priority is to ensure that others are happy over his own self.

alan tribble

THE WEASEL without a doubt.

I gained a lot of respect for The Weasel when he e-mailed me and asked if he could replace my logbook for my cache.

I told him that would be great and he did the next day.

I think it’s very cool that he dried out the old log and put it back in the Cache two week later.

This is a person that really cares about maintanence people making the best out of Geocaching!

http://blog.geocaching.com Eric Schudiske

Dan,
Thank you so much for sharing your well articulated thoughts. It’s a position we all share – that geocaching unites rather divides. And through this process we’ve seen three amazing geocachers (and geocaching communities) share and exchange thoughts on how we can all contribute to the global community. The simple act of a friend nominating another geocacher to be among those listed as nominees for the featured Geocacher of the Month is powerful in itself, then the outpouring of support that follows is heartwarming. I believe there are always three winners and we’ve seen that especially this month. Please, and this is for everyone, if you’re in Seattle, WA come by the Geocaching HQ and say hi, and we hope to see you at a Mega-Event in your neck of the woods soon!

http://blog.geocaching.com Eric Schudiske

“Note instead of “Vote” – I really like that. These are three amazing geocachers and three amazing geocaching communities. We’ve all learned so much about how to give back to geocaching by reading the comments about the nominees. Thanks for your comments.

http://blog.geocaching.com Eric Schudiske

Cut the corn in half! Being a Wisconsin kid, I love this saying (and it sounds delicious). Thanks for your comment!

http://blog.geocaching.com Eric Schudiske

Thanks everyone for voting and “noting.” Voting has closed. This has been such a special Featured Geocacher of the Month. Each geocacher nominated is truly a winner. Check back for an announcement on where the title goes this month.

yumahokie

My vote is for “The Weasel”. Good luck to all the candidates! Happy Caching everyone!

RetiredinSedona

We have so enjoyed The Raven’s caches – they are creative and so much fun for the whole family. We even brought our son and his family to Prescott, specifically for The Raven’s caches and we had a blast with them. They introduced us to geocaching and, like us, feel The Raven’s caches are the best they’ve ever found. We vote very highly for The Raven!! He not only gave us caches, but some wonderful family memories with our kids and grandkids!!

Laurel

The Raven gets my vote!!!

K&L LopAZ

The Raven goes above and beyond finding and designing caches. He teaches others to so. Three weeks ago he taught 20 women in the Prescott branch of the American Association of University Women (and some husbands) to geocache. We are now meeting every month for fun and games and between times with friends and family. Some of us are attending the Yuma Mega Event where we will be leaving SWAG and spending $$. The Raven is also teaching a class at our local college. All out of the goodness of his heart- so let’s give him some kudos and this month elect him king of the geocachers.

Luvmykatz

Ummmm, voting is over people, just saying.

Lego Crew

+1 for The Weasel.

Erick

The Raven has a passion about brightening the lives of others rarely seen in folks today. He has made caches that are less just as much of a cache as they are an adventure. I can honestly say that he is one of the only CO’s that I can comment vividly on every hide of his I have found. A great man, a humble man, and a better friend.

Vote to the Raven

rochelle

The RAVEN is the best. He is always ready to give advice to anyone when it comes to geocaching. GO RAVEN

Janet Rice

I hope it’s not too late to vote.
All three of you should be VERY proud of yourselves!
I’ve done my research, and I am voting for The Weasel.

Good Luck

Ed Roll

biscuitt bunch nominates Tim aka The Weasel has put out a lot of great caches. Love to do his nature puzzles.

Ed Roll

G-DAUG would pick Tim aka The Weasel as GeocCacher of the month. He some great hides and great puzzles caches

kkrew08

I vote for the Weasel

Donna

My vote is for the Weasel! His caches are the best, but even better is his reputation as a great CO. When I’ve had questions about a cache or the bike trail, he emailed me back promptly, which is always appreciated.